The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya, also known as the
Ibadis (Arabic: الاباضية‎, al-Ibāḍiyyah), is a school of
IslamIslam dominant in Oman.[1] It is also found in parts of Algeria,
Tunisia,
LibyaLibya and East Africa. The movement is said to have been
founded around the year 650 CE or about 20 years after the death of
the Islamic prophet Muhammad, predating both the
SunniSunni and Shia
denominations.[2] Modern historians trace back the origins of the
denomination to a moderate current of the Khawarij
movement;[3][4][5]:3 contemporary Ibāḍīs strongly object to being
classified as Kharijites, although they recognize that their movement
originated with the Kharijite secession of 657 CE.[5]:3

Contents

1 History
2 Relations with other communities
3 Views

3.1 Doctrinal differences with other denominations
3.2 Views on Islamic history and caliphate
3.3 View of hadith
3.4 View of jurisprudence

4 Demographics
5 Notable Ibadis

5.1 Individuals
5.2 Dynasties

6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

History[edit]
The school derives its name from ʿAbdu l-Lāh ibn Ibāḍ of the Banu
Tamim.[6] Ibn Ibad was responsible for breaking off from the wider
Kharijite movement roughly around the time that Abd al-Malik ibn
Marwan, the fifth
UmayyadUmayyad ruler, took power.[5]:11 However, the true
founder was
Jābir ibn Zayd of Nizwa, Oman.[5]:12[7] Initially, Ibadi
theology developed in Basra, Iraq.[8] The Ibadis opposed the rule of
the third caliph in Islam, Uthman ibn Affan, but unlike the more
extreme Kharijites the Ibadis rejected the murder of Uthman as well as
the Kharijite belief that all Muslims holding differing viewpoints
were infidels.[9] The Ibadis were among the more moderate groups
opposed to the fourth caliph, Ali, and wanted to return
IslamIslam to its
form prior to the conflict between
AliAli and Muawiyah I.[10][11]
Due to their opposition to the
UmayyadUmayyad Caliphate, the Ibadis attempted
an armed insurrection starting in the
HijazHijaz region in the 740s. Caliph
Marwan IIMarwan II led a 4,000 strong army and routed the Ibadis first in
Mecca, then in
Sana'aSana'a in Yemen, and finally surrounded them in Shibam
in western Hadhramaut.[9] Problems back in their heartland of Syria
forced the Umayyads to sign a peace accord with the Ibadis, and the
sect was allowed to retain a community in
ShibamShibam for the next four
centuries while still paying taxes to
IbadiIbadi authorities in Oman.[9]
For a period after Marwan II's death, Jabir ibn Zayd maintained a
friendship with
UmayyadUmayyad general Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who supported the
Ibadis as a counterbalance to more extreme Kharijites. Ibn Zayd
ordered the assassination of one of Al-Hajjaj's spies, however, and in
reaction many Ibadis were imprisoned or exiled to Oman.[5]:12[dubious
– discuss]
It was during the 8th century that the Ibadis established an imamate
in the inner region of Oman. The position was an elected one, as
opposed to
SunniSunni and Shi'a dynasties where rule was inherited.[2][12]
These imams exerted political, spiritual and military functions.[13]
By the year 900, Ibadism had spread to Sind, Khorosan, Hadhramaut,
Dhofar,
OmanOman proper, Muscat, the Nafusa Mountains, and Qeshm; by 1200,
the sect was present in Al-Andalus, Sicily,
M'zabM'zab (the Algerian
Sahara), and the western part of the
SahelSahel region as well.[7] The last
Ibadis of
ShibamShibam were expelled by the
Sulayhid dynasty in the 12th
century.[citation needed] In the 14th century, historian Ibn Khaldun
made reference to vestiges of
IbadiIbadi influence in Hadhramaut, though
the sect no longer exists in the region today.[14]
Relations with other communities[edit]
Despite predating all
SunniSunni and
ShiaShia schools by several decades, the
Ibadis and their beliefs remain largely a mystery to outsiders, both
non-Muslims and even other Muslims.[5]:3 Ibadis have claimed, with
justification, that while they read the works of both Sunnis and
Shias, even the learned scholars of those two sects never read Ibadi
works and often repeat myths and false information when they address
the topic of Ibadism without performing proper research.[5]:4 The
isolated nature of
OmanOman granted the
IbadiIbadi denomination, secretive by
nature, the perfect environment to develop in isolation from the
Islamic mainstream.[6] Ibadis were cut off even from the Kharijite
sect because of Ibn Ibaḍ's criticism of their excesses and his
rejection of their more extreme beliefs.[6] The spread of Ibadism in
OmanOman essentially represents the triumph of theology over tribal
feudalism and conflict.[8]
Ibadis have been referred to[by whom?] as tolerant Puritans or as
political quietists because of their preference to solve differences
through dignity and reason rather than with confrontation,[2][10] as
well as their tolerance for practising Christians and Jews sharing
their communities.[10]
Ibadism's movement from
HijazHijaz to
IraqIraq and then further out made Ibadi
historian al-Salimi once write that Ibadism is a bird whose egg was
laid in Medina, hatched in
BasraBasra and flew to Oman.[7]
Views[edit]

Ibadis state, with reason, that their school predates that of
mainstream Islamic schools, and Ibadism is thus considered to be an
early and highly orthodox interpretation of Islam.[2]
Doctrinal differences with other denominations[edit]
Ibāḍīs have several doctrinal differences with other denominations
of Islam, chief among them:

GodGod will not show himself to Muslims on the Day of Judgment, a belief
shared with Shias. Sunnis believe that Muslims will see
GodGod on the Day
of Judgment.[15]
The
QuranQuran was created by
GodGod at a certain point in time. This belief
is shared with the Mutazila,[16] whereas Sunnīs hold the
QuranQuran to be
co-eternal with God, as exemplified by the suffering of Ahmad ibn
Hanbal during the miḥnah.[17]
Like the
MutazilaMutazila and Shias, they interpret anthropomorphic references
to
GodGod in the Qur'an symbolically rather than literally.[16]
Their views on predestination are like the
AshariAshari Sunnis (i.e.
occasionalism).[16]
It is unnecessary to have one leader for the entire Muslim world, and
if no single leader is fit for the job, Muslim communities can rule
themselves.[9][11] That is different from both the
SunniSunni belief of
CaliphateCaliphate and the
ShiaShia belief of Imamah.[10][18][19]
It is not necessary for the ruler of the Muslims to be descended from
the Quraysh tribe, which was the tribe of the Muslim prophet
Muhammad.[10][11] That is different from Shias[5]:7
They believe it is acceptable to conceal one's beliefs under certain
circumstances (kitman), analogous to the
ShiaShia taqiyya.[16]

Views on Islamic history and caliphate[edit]
Ibadis agree with Sunnis, regarding
Abu BakrAbu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab
as rightly-guided caliphs.[5]:7[11] They regard the first half of
Uthman ibn Affan's rule as righteous and the second half as corrupt
and affected by both nepotism and heresy.[5]:7 They approve of the
first part of Ali's caliphate and (like Shī'a) disapprove of Aisha's
rebellion and Muawiyah I's revolt. However, they regard Ali's
acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Ṣiffīn as rendering him
unfit for leadership, and condemn him for killing the
KhawarijKhawarij of
an-Nahr in the Battle of Nahrawan. Modern
IbadiIbadi theologians defend the
early Kharijite opposition to Uthman,
AliAli and Muawiyah.[5]:10
Moroccan explorer
Ibn BattutaIbn Battuta observed Ibadis praying
Jumu'ahJumu'ah in Oman
and said they prayed in the same manner as Zuhr prayer. He noticed
that they invoked God's mercy on
Abu BakrAbu Bakr and Umar but not Uthman and
Ali.[2]
In their belief, the next legitimate caliph was Abdullah ibn Wahb
al-Rasibi, the leader of the Kharijites who turned against
AliAli for his
acceptance of arbitration with Muawiyah.[5]:10 All Caliphs from
Mu'āwīyah onward are considered tyrants except Umar ibn Abdul Aziz,
on whom opinions differ.[citation needed] Numerous Ibāḍī leaders
are recognized as true imams, including Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi of
South Arabia and the imams of the
RustamidRustamid dynasty in North Africa.
Traditionally, conservative Omani Ibadism rejected monarchy and
hereditary rule,[20] and Ibadhi leaders were elected.[12]
Despite bitter religious disputes elsewhere, the Ibadis are realists
and believe that reason and political expediency must temper the ideal
Islamic state.[2]
View of hadith[edit]
Ibadis accept as authentic far fewer hadith than do Sunnis.[citation
needed] Several Ibadii founding figures were noted for their hadith
research, and Jabir ibn Zayd is accepted as a reliable narrator even
by
SunniSunni scholars as well as by Ibadis.[citation needed] After the
death of Ibn Ibad, Ibn Zayd led the Ibadis and withdrew to Oman, where
his hadith, along with those of other early Ibadis formed the corpus
of their interpretation of Islamic law.[11]
View of jurisprudence[edit]
The fiqh or jurisprudence of Ibadis is relatively simple. Absolute
authority is given to the Qur'an and hadith; new innovations accepted
on the basis of qiyas, or analogical reasoning, were rejected as
bid‘ah by the Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnis[21]
but agrees with Shias[22] and the
ZahiriZahiri and early
HanbaliHanbali schools of
Sunnism.[23][24][25]
Demographics[edit]

Ibadis make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in Oman.[26]
There are roughly 2.72 million Ibadis worldwide, of which 250,000 live
outside Oman.[27] As a result,
OmanOman is the only country in the Muslim
world with an Ibadi-majority population.[26]
Historically, the early medieval
RustamidRustamid dynasty in
AlgeriaAlgeria was
Ibadi,[28] and refugees from its capital, Tiaret, founded the North
African
IbadiIbadi communities, which still exist in M'zab.[29] The
Mozabites, a Berber ethnic group in M'zab, are Ibadis.[30][31][32]
Ibadis are also found in
East AfricaEast Africa (particularly Zanzibar), the
Nafusa MountainsNafusa Mountains of Libya, and
DjerbaDjerba Island in Tunisia.[citation
needed] There is a group of Salafis who have converted to Ibadis in
the island nation of the
MaldivesMaldives since 2016.[citation needed] They
follow the Shaikhs of Oman[who?].[citation needed]
Notable Ibadis[edit]
Individuals[edit]

Sulaiman al-Barouni, wali of Tripolitania.
Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalili, current
Grand MuftiGrand Mufti of Oman.
Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of
OmanOman and its dependencies.
Nouri Abusahmain, president of the former General National Congress
and former Libyan head of state.
Moufdi Zakaria, poet, writer and nationalist militant, author of
KassamanKassaman the Algerian national anthem

Pessah Shinar, Modern
IslamIslam in the Maghrib, Jerusalem: The Max
Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 2004. A collection of papers (some
previously unpublished) dealing with
IslamIslam in the Maghreb, practices,
and beliefs.

External links[edit]

IbadiIbadi Islam: an introduction
A Concise History of al-Ibadiyyah
Ibn-Ibad and the
IbadiIbadi School of Islamic Law